Why Does it Matter if it's a Boy or a Girl?

I've had this conversation with many many people since before Dougie was born. It was again brought up when Pam got pregnant back in January. This is how the conversation usually went...

--------------------------------
Someone: Oh, what are you having?

Me: A baby!

Someone: No, I mean a boy or a girl?

Me: A surprise!

Someone: You're not finding out?

Me: Nope. We didn't with Dougie either.

Someone: How do you plan?

Me: It's not that hard. We're having a baby...It's not a big difference like a dog vs. a donkey or something...

Someone: I could never not know! I need to plan...

Me: For what? A baby's a baby.

Someone: Well, I need to know so I can buy stuff for it...Like clothes.

Me: You do know the stores don't close when the baby is born right?
---------------------------------

These are conversations both Pam and I have and it's just funny to me. People always seem to freak out and can't believe we're not finding out. I just don't see the problem I guess. I ask most people if they care what they are having and they say that they don't because in the end we all just want a healthy, happy baby.

So why all the fuss? A baby is TINY when it's born so it's not like you have to purchase a whole wardrobe for it beforehand. Usually for the first 3 months babies wear these things called 'onesies' that are usually 'white' which is a pretty neutral color. It's not until after that when they start wearing 'outfits' relating to the gender...

And besides, Pam and I picked out two outfits for when the baby comes home from the hospital. A boy outfit and a girl outfit. Yes, we spent an extra $10 for not knowing, but then again, if it's a boy, we have a nice girl outfit to give to one of our many friends that are also having a baby. We just killed two birds there you see?

Some people ask in almost hysterics, "Well, what about painting the room or car seat or crib sheets or the pack n play or ahhhhhhh!" I always think their head is going to explode as if me not knowing what gender my future child is affects them in some way. But to answer that question we pick neutral colors.

We do not pick neutral colors just because we don't know the sex of our baby, but because it's common sense. There's plenty of time later to get blues or pinks in relation to the baby, but when you're talking about room color? Well, I don't want to have to paint that room every time Pam pops a kid out so 'yellow' is good for me.

Also, I know money doesn't grow on trees so if I knew Dougie was a boy beforehand I still would not have bought blue sheets, a blue car seat, a blue pack n play etc. etc. because then what if this one is a girl? Now all the $$$ I spent on that stuff is wasted because I 'obviously' can't put a girl in blue stuff. So now I need all pink stuff. I guess it's back to the drawing board...

As you can see by the 'quotes' throughout I am trying to use a tone that everyone can come on board with. Frankly I believe capital America came up with the boys are 'blue' and girls are 'pink' for this very reason. To get gullible people to think they have to obey these two laws when it comes to new babies which gives the big companies to suck you dry once you have a baby of each sex. Silly people...

But in all seriousness folks. The main reason why we don't find out if we are having a boy or a girl is because it doesn't matter to us. Yes, we may have a preference, but in the end as long as it's healthy that's all that matters. And it's the greatest feeling when the grueling labor (love you Pam) is all over and out comes a baby and you get a first look and see if it's a boy or a girl is the best feeling in the world.

Because then as a dad who mostly sits by and just tries to comfort his wife as much as he can through all the pain has the pure joy of going out into the delivery room and telling everyone, "It's a BOY!" and proclaiming the name we have picked out as husband and wife together. It truly is a magical feeling...